Buddhist Geeks

We’re joined this week by Kenneth Folk, a long-time Theravada practitioner and meditation teacher, who describes in exquisite detail his spiritual journey. It began in earnest at the age of 24, when having done several hits of LSD, he had a life-altering experience that put him squarely on the path of seeking. Several years later, he really began gaining some traction, when he met his teacher Bill Hamilton, who claimed that enlightenment was something that could be systematically attained by applying a technique.

By dedicating himself completely to those techniques, and through doing years of intensive meditation practice in the West and in Asia, Kenneth claims that he went through a gradual development through the various “stages of enlightenment,” described in the literature of Theravada Buddhism. Listen in to hear Kenneth describe these stages, as well as the many things he learned along the way. And listen in to next week’s episode, to hear Kenneth complete his story.

This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to Part 2, Unifying Developmental Enlightenment and Timeless Realization.

Episode Links:

• Kenneth Folk Dharma
• The Progress of Insight
• Mahasi Sayadaw

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This week we’re joined by Zen-inspired dharma teacher, Michael McAlister. Michael is the leader of the Infinite Smile sangha, just east of Berkeley, in what Michael calls, “the hard edge of suburbia.” After many years of Zen practiced with the San Francisco Zen Center, Michael set up to teach a form of dharma that wasn’t bound by tradition.
Some of the topics we discussed with Michael include climbing the mountain of spirit–a stirring and ancient metaphor for the spiritual journey, the 7th, 8th, and 9th spiritual senses, and finally the things that Michael has learned while endeavoring “to integrate a relevant spirituality with 21st century living.”
Episode Links:
Ken Wilber ( http://www.kenwilber.com )
Awake in This Life: A Guide for Those Climbing the Mountain of Spirit ( http://bit.ly/6B44Zf )

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Grace Schireson is a Zen master in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and is the abbess of the Empty Nest Zendo in northern California. She joins us today to explore some of the main themes in her recently released book, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters.
Among the topics we discuss are what the traditional stereotypes of females in Zen have been, and the recently discovered literature on women in Zen who did not fit these stereotypes. We then look at the unique way these women practiced Zen and how what they learned can be applicable to us today. We finish the discussion by speaking about feminine spirituality in general, and the prevalence of the “great mother” in all of the world’s wisdom traditions.
Episode Links:
Empty Nest Zendo ( http://www.emptynestzendo.org )
Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters ( http://bit.ly/5jlS2D )

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This week we speak with Zen Master, Genpo Roshi, about the relationship between money and spirituality. It’s a hot topic and one that he is incredibly passionate about. He shares the details of a successful new fundraising campaign that his community puts on called the Big Heart Circle or 5/5/50. 5/5/50 stands for five people for five days, and at the cost of a $50,000 donation do a retreat with Genpo. He shares with us the specifics behind that retreat, including how the money is used, and responds to those people who find what he’s doing offensive.
He also shares his observations on how he, and many other spiritual practitioners, disown their own ambition, competitiveness, and greediness in a way that causes it to come out in extremely pernicious ways. The key, to him, is to re-own those parts of ourselves that we can be of benefit to all sentient beings, and just as in the 10 ox-herding pictures, re-enter the marketplace with gift bestowing hands.
Episode Links:
Big Mind – Big Heart: Finding Your Way ( http://bit.ly/JRp9q )
Big Mind Zen Center ( http://bigmind.org )

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We conclude our uber-geeky conversation with neuropsychologist and dharma teacher Rick Hanson this week, exploring what might be happening in the run-up to the transforming moment of nirvana. In the Theravada tradition of Buddhism the moment or nirvana (or nibbana as it’s called in that tradition), and even the period leading up to it, is spiritually transformative. Using one common map of the experiences leading up to nirvana–the 8 jhanas–Rick explains what he thinks might be happening in the brain as it approaches the “event horizon” of nibbana.
He also uses the metaphor of eddies in a stream to explain the way that experience arises on a moment-by-moment basis, through the firing of neural coalitions in the brain. He also explores the parallels between the eddies of experience and self in our subjective experience with the material world.
This is part 3 of a three-part series. Listen to part 1, A Crash Course in Applied Neurodharma and part 2, Self is a Network Phenomenon.
Episode Links:
Wise Brain ( http://www.wisebrain.org )
Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom ( http://bit.ly/J4gPr )

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We’re joined again by Neuropsychologist and Theravada teacher, Rick Hanson. This time we explore the Buddhist proposition of anatta, or selflessness, from the point of view of neuroscience and the brain. Rick explores whether a self actually exists using the following 4 core attributes of how a self is often defined:
1. It is unified & coherent
2. It is stable & enduring
3. It is independent
4. It is the whole of experience
Looking at current research on how the self manifests in the brain, as what Hanson calls a “network phenomenon”, he deconstructs each of these four attributes, arguing that “self is not special inside the brain.”
This is part 2 of a three-part series. Listen to part 1, A Crash Course in Applied Neurodharma and part 3, Eddies in the Stream.
Episode Links:
Wise Brain ( http://www.wisebrain.org )
Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom ( http://bit.ly/J4gPr )

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This week, we’re joined by trained Neuropsychologist and Theravada Buddhist teacher, Rick Hanson, to explore what he calls “applied Neurodharma.” We begin by exploring the 1st noble truth of suffering, but from the perspective of evolutionary neurobiology. In other words, why does it appear that we’re hard-wired to suffer, and what are the mechanisms behind it?
And just as in the 4 noble truths, where we start with the diagnosis and end with a prescription, after exploring the 1st noble truth, Rick shares some suggestions for training the mind to overcome some of the hardwired tendencies we have to fixate on the negative. These suggestions come both from the Buddhist tradition, as well as directly from what we know of the distributed nervous system (and the Brain) from modern-day neuroscience.
This is part 1 of a three-part series. Listen to part 2, Self is a Network Phenomenon and part 3, Eddies in the Stream.
Episode Links:
Wise Brain ( http://www.wisebrain.org )
Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom ( http://bit.ly/J4gPr )

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Martin Aylward continues his discussion with us how we can bring forth a more relevant, relational, and potent form of contemporary dharma practice. He begins by exploring the tendency for Western practitioners to rely too much on retreat practice, instead of on the juice that comes from their daily lives, and the need to work more skillfully with our everyday experience.
In particular he highlights the areas of money and sex, as being areas of our lives that have a lot of charge, and yet are usually nominalized in dharma teachings. In 2010 Martin will be leading a special urban-based retreat (or sandwich retreat) entitled Work, Sex, Money, Dharma that deals specifically with these parts of our human experience, in the hopes that we can create a practice of awakening that includes every aspect of our lives.
This is part 2 of a two part series. Listen to part 1, Freestyle Awakening
Episode Links:
Le Moulin Meditation Centre ( http://www.dharmanetwork.org )
Work, Sex, Money, Dharma ( http://worksexmoneydharma.com )

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The theme of distinguishing between the Buddhist teachings and forms which lead to awakening, and those forms that are culturally inherited and perhaps unsuited for our current Western context, is an ongoing one on Buddhist Geeks. This week, we continue this exploration with Dharma teacher, Martin Aylward.
Martin, who lives in southern France, where he runs and teaches as Le Moulin Meditation Centre, has been actively exploring what it means to translate Dharma to the West. He recognizes that we’re still quite early in that process, but is a pioneer when it comes to adapting the forms of Buddhism to the West. His use of technology and emphasis on relational dharma, as well as what calls “Freestyle” or “DIY Awakening” is a striking attempt at making Dharma more relevant for the lives of Western, engaged, lay practitioners.
This is part 1 of a two part series. Listen to part 2, Work, Sex, Money, Dharma.
Episode Links:
Ajahn Buddhadasa ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhadasa )
Le Moulin Meditation Centre ( http://www.dharmanetwork.org )
Work, Sex, Money, Dharma ( http://worksexmoneydharma.com )

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We continue our discussion with Shambhala acharya, Judith Simmer-Brown, about how we can strategically invest in American Buddhism so that it survives in the long-term. We explored the first three areas of importance in-depth in part 1, which included the translation of core texts, the development of a monastic lineage, and the appointment of dharma heirs.
In this part of the discussion we flesh out the details of the fourth area, which is royal patronage. Judith speaks about how, given a lack of that kind of support, most dharma teachers and organizations turn whole-heartedly to the market to sustain them. And with that come all sort of issues–including the pursuit of fame and fortune. We finish the discussion, going back to the question of whether we’ll be able to develop a monastic community in the West, and why that’s important to the healthy development of Buddhism in America.
This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, The Survival of American Buddhism.
Episode Links:
Naropa University ( http://www.naropa.edu )
Tassajara Zen Center ( http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/ )
Gampo Abbey ( http://www.gampoabbey.org )

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